Underwear exhibit worth a peek in Pittsburgh

The Frick museum in Point Breeze has opened an exhibit on the history of underwear fashion.

Scott Tady @scotttady

PITTSBURGH -- Unmentionables offer much to talk about in "Undressed: A History of Fashion in Underwear," an alluring exhibition that opened this weekend at the Frick.

From Queen Alexandria's knitted silk embroidered stockings, to a come-hither evening gown worn by the femme fatale in the 2012 James Bond movie "Skyfall," there's plenty to gawk at and ponder in a show organized by London's Victoria and Albert Museum exclusively for the Frick museum in Pittsburgh's Point Breeze neighborhood.

Displayed items span the eras, from a mid-18th-century corset to brand-new Spanx and fresh Juicy Couture.

Thematically divided into nine sections, with titles such as "Relaxation," "Performance" and "Temptation," this underwear covers a lot of ground, including maternity wear, bondage attire and men's briefs, like the pop art-inspired pair with a Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck pattern.

Celebrity fashion buffs might "ooh" and "aah" at the display case with Red Carpet inner-wear-turned-outer, including an Elise Saab lingerie dress Mila Kunis wore to the 2011 Oscars, and an Antonio Beradi dress worn by Gwyneth Paltrow hallmarked by a corset that reveals the underwear worn beneath.

Objects such as some 1890s corsets -- one made from cotton and whalebone -- and designed to shape what might now be called a mono-bosom, could get Frick visitors asking themselves, "How did women wear that?" A wall hanging shows X-rays from 1908 used by a doctor to make the argument that corsets too tightly laced could cause bone damage to women.

Running through Jan. 7, "Undressed" is a natural follow-up to the Frick's 2016 show "Killer Heels," about the history of women's footwear.

"It's a niche we've been eager to move into," chief curator Sarah Hall of the Frick said. "We have a fantastic costume collection here of over 2,000 pieces, and programming the fashion exhibitions allows us to raise the profile of our collection."

Let's face it: Any exhibition with that many bras, briefs and panties is sure to draw attention.

"It's a lot of fun," Hall said. "It does bring a new audience, and it expands our audience and brings a lot of energy and life and, shall I say, style to the museum. But it's also serious exploration of taste and culture and social history."

The Frick has followed suit with major museums nationally in devoting more attention to fashion.

"I think part of that is the evolution of museums themselves," Hall said. "If you think about the first public museums being founded sort of mid-19th century and kind of working out what it is museums do and how they reflect back to their communities, I think it's taken a little bit of a while for us to get the importance of fashion as an expression of personal taste, as an expression of cultural values and social norms. It's here to stay and is going to be more deeply explored."

There's a lot to explore now at the Frick, from 19th-century men's long johns, to a 1953 thermal petticoat, to a Playtex rubber girdle seen in magazine ads, and underwear worn by Princess Louise and model Kate Moss.

If all goes as planned, this will be the beginning of a lovely relationship between the Frick and the Victoria and Albert Museum, one of the United Kingdom's best, according to Stuart Baird, a consul with the British Embassy, who flew in from Washington, D.C., to attend Friday's media press event.

"It's fantastic to be able to have Pittsburgh as the home for this event," Baird said. "It's a wonderful example of U.K. culture and heritage."

The exhibit includes a special event Friday, Nov. 3, with Stacy London, co-host of TLC's "What Not to Wear," discussing "The Power of Personal Style." London will share personal and professional experiences on the healing power of personal style and talk about body image and the role style can play in boosting self-esteem. Tickets are $30 for that event, which includes a post-talk reception with drinks. Advance registration and pre-payment are required.

On Nov. 4, there's another special event, "Revealing Conversations — Fashion and the Female Body," where innovative Pittsburgh women will lead an afternoon of talk about fashion, women's bodies and women's lives. Featured presenters for the 2 to 5 p.m. event include Demeatria Boccella, founder of Utopia Model Agency and FashionAFRICANA; Laura Engel, a Duquesne University professor and author of "Fashioning Celebrity: Eighteenth-Century British Actresses and Strategies for Image Making, and Kiya Tomlin, designer and founder of Uptown Sweats. Tickets for that event are $15, also with advance registration and pre-payment required.

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